Oriam parkrun

Posted on June 28, 2026 by lindaharley

parkrun #415 event#117

Reason for visit: – attending the launch of the rebrand of the https://rscds.org/ in lovely Edinburgh. I’d already done Edinburgh, Portobello and Holyrood, and this one, based at Heriot Watt University, was on the way to EDI for my return flight on Saturday afternoon.

Access:

The University is well served by frequent buses, with a bus stop right beside the Oriam Sports Centre. I got a taxi (£20), but make sure you tell the driver where to go – one runner arrived 10 minutes after the start time because his taxi had left them at a different building. He still managed to catch the tail walker! I made the onward journey to the airport by bus and tram.

Facilities:

The spaceship like sports centre has lots of clean loos, as well as showers and lockers. But you’ll need your own padlock to use those, as they are not coin operated. You can hire a towel, and even buy toiletries.

The cafe sells a good variety of coffees as well as Bovril (a very Scottish thing), and snacks and crisps. There are a few seats inside, and plenty of picnic tables outside, complete with QR codes to scan and order. Start and finish is at the same spot in the walled garden, so it’s safe to leave a bag (at owners risk).

Course:

It’s an out and back with a few twiddly bits. Mostly on forest trail paths – watch out for any presents left by horses! Very well marshalled.

Crowd:

Uni types, plus Mums and Dads visiting their college offspring. Very dog friendly, though buggies might struggle with the terrain. I chatted to a park walker (also called Linda) and her dog Scout (same as my uncle Sid’s, and named after To Kill a Mocking Bird)

Time:

I’m still mostly walking, and I’d been a little unnerved by some of the previous results that there didn’t seem to be many walkers. But here was a good bunch of us on my visit, including a cheery Tailwaker dishing out fruit pastilles. I got round in well under an hour.

Gear:

I was en route to the airport, so was carrying my handbag with me. Black trousers, Saucony trainers, Jog Lisburn top, 250 volunteer buff and light rain jacket. This had proved woefully inadequate for the non stop Friday rain, so much so that I’d had to by a waterproof bucket hat. But the Saturday was warm and sunny, so I ended up carrying my coat most of the way.

And the rest:

The rebrand launch was very good, and has received much positive feedback. I stayed in the Thistle Hotel, nice and quiet but still very handy for the West End. The World Cup was on, I didn’t want to reveal that I had drawn Morocco in the work sweepstake, given that they were playing Scotland that night – I’d hoped to watch the match in my hotel room rather than a noisy pub, but the TV wasn’t working. The plane was full of burly farmers attending the Highland Show. On the way home, the usual airport lounges (Escape, Aspire) were full, but my Priority Pass card got me into the Turkish Airlines lounge, which was absolutely lovely. My Ryanair plane sat for an hour on the tarmac before getting going, and as I was in row 2 I though I stood a fair chance of getting a glass of wine from the trolley. But the stewardess informed me that they don’t serve alcohol on UK flights. I’m fairly sure this is not true, but I wasn’t going to argue. It was possibly something to do with the farmers, not that I’m casting nasturtiums….

All my parkruns:

NI (and other) parkruns: summary list

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Pomeroy Forest parkrun

Posted on June 9, 2026 by lindaharley

parkrun#414 event #116

Reason for visit – attending a dance event in nearby Desercreat, and ticking off the newest babies in the NI stable.

Access:

Pomeroy forest is pretty much bang in the centre of Northern Ireland, so you are definitely going to be driving some windy country roads! No public transport options, sadly, but there is plenty of car parking spaces.

Facilities:

There’s a shiny new visitor centre with clean toilets. I was able to change for my dance event in comfort. A little cafe, Woodies, in the courtyard supplies coffee, buns, crisps etc. It was a really rainy morning when I visited and shelter was hard to come by, even under the umbrella tables.

Crowd:

I was there at event number 3, so the hardy regionnaire chasers were out in force, But there were still less than 70 participants in total, the remoteness saving them from being overrun. Lots of dogs, they do seem to love a forest run.

Course:

2 laps with a bit of an out and back. Plenty of marshals on the route, as well as helpful signs. There’s a bit of a hill towards the end of the lap, and the surface is all forest path. The forest is home to some amazing wooden sculptures depicting fairy tales and legends, definitely one to bring the grandkids to! Oh, and lovely views over the Mid Ulster countryside.

Gear:

I was in my blue Hokkas, windproof trousers, and black rain jacket, with cow bobble hat. Despite the rain there were also lots of midges, so insect repellent would have been a bonus.

Time:

I was jogging the downhills and walking the ups, so was quite happy with a time of about 54 minutes.

And the rest:

Still not a regionnaire – Claudy still to be ticked off, and there are no doubt a few more in the pipeline. I went into Cookstown afterwards, a nice big wide main street to explore, where I found a bargain pair of baseball boots!

All my parkruns:

NI (and other) parkruns: summary list

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Rhine River Cruising

Posted on June 1, 2026 by lindaharley

Having done a few ocean cruises, we were keen to try a river cruise for a change. We went with Riviera, and sailed from Cologne to Basel, with stops at Koblenz, Ruddesheim, and Strasbourg.

I put a lot of planning into what to wear. May temperatures in that part of Europe can be pleasant, but always allow for rain. Plus we would be going up into the mountains of Switzerland, where snow is still on the ground.

I chose a colour scheme of green, cream and navy, ensuring that the items could be mixed and matched.

Outerwear – rainproof green coat with hood, and a lighter navy shower jacket.

Trousers – navy linen, stone linen, both with matching shirts. Also a warmer pair of jade jeans.

Tops – T shirts in green, navy, cream/multi

Shirts in navy linen, stone linen, and navy with spots.

Dresses – plain green, and a multi green with a matching jacket.

Layers – plain apple green (Hobbs), striped green and cream collared (Seasalt), dark green popper front cardi (Anthropologie)

Accessories – warm scarf in cream/ multi, light scarf in jade and turquoise (fat face), square in pistachio/ cream (seasalt). Not pictured – buff with a map print on it. Sparkly wrap bracelets in turquoise and bronze (swarovski), chunky multi coloured beads (anthropologie).

Shoes – white/ bronze trainers (Hotter), navy sandals, and sparkly deck shoes. These were much admired on board, great for padding from cocktail bar to dance floor, and doing the macarena.

Also packed swimsuit, sunhat, binoculars for watching all the birdlife, and a puzzle book.

Cream trousers, multi T shirt, warm scarf, light jacket in the cable car up to the viewpoint above Koblenz.

Navy linen ensemble with waterproof green coat, on the covered bridge on Lake Lucerne.

Formal dinner night – plain green dress with the patterned jacket and chunky beads.

Enjoying a glass of local vino in Strasbourg. Green striped jumper, cream trousers, green neckscarf.

Cabin. My hand luggage was a jade Roka sized to fit into most airlines cradles.

The full moon.

Cruise ship named Rhine Majesty sailing on the Rhine river near historic castles and villages at sunset
A luxurious cruise ship sails along the Rhine river at sunset, passing historic castles and quaint villages.

We both thoroughly enjoyed our time on board, The staff/ guest ratio is very good, and all the staff were so friendly and helpful. I’m a bridge afficianado, so I adored all the fabulous bridges we sailed under. We also had to go through a number of huge locks, engineering marvels. Sipping a GnT on deck as we glided past German fairytale castles, being brought the cocktail of the day and canapes at 5 pm, joining in the quiz night and Tai Chi class, enjoying splendid food and wines, it was just wonderful.

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